Left 4 Dead G4TV E3 Video

On G4TV E3 2007 pre-show coverage they featured Left 4 Dead! Mike Booth was present and gave an interview telling the basics of the game while the infected, zombie-killing goodness ran in the background. The footage was from the starting apartments, through the alley and into the first large opening where we got the treat of seeing the Tank in all of its glory, tossing cars and people around like they were nothing! You can also see a few times the Tank picking up debris and throwing chunks around. It is 4:34 minutes long.

Click here for the YouTube version that we posted a few hours after the show (lower quality than above) We have a transcript, timeline, and screenshots from the video below.

TRANSCRIPT

KEVIN: Alright guys, let's face it.. if you find yourself alone after the whole apocalyse happens you'll probably, well.. you'll just be another entree on the zombie buffet. But fortunately today we have the founder of Turtle Rock Studios Michael Booth here to help pass the ammo and give us an inside look at Left 4 Dead. Michael, thanks for coming on.

MIKE: Thanks man, thanks for having me.

KEVIN: Appreciate it. So now, we're playing the game live off-screen right now, this is all real-time running on the Source engine. Give me the elevator pitch - what is this game about? I was told zombies, blood, mayhem, viruses.. is that at all correct?

MIKE: Right. So imagine if you will.. you and I are the only guys left in the whole LA area that aren't infected by this crazy virus that when it infects people it basically turns them into ravening, psychotic zombies hell-bent on beating you till you stop moving.

KEVIN: So they sound like regular citizens of LA so far. [Mike laughs] but there's more to it.

MIKE: Right, right.. well the basic premise is that you are so totally outnumbered that you've got to cooperate. In Left 4 Dead, that's what we're really pushing on - is extreme cooperation.

KEVIN: Well I see extreme bloodshed here! What's going on? This looks like the Homeland Security raid because I said the wrong word on a phone call - what is going on in this mission that we're seeing these guys just tear through this apartment or this house here and zombies are flooding in?

MIKE: Right, well.. again, with the explicit cooperation there's 4 Survivors, right? So we wanted you to be completely outnumbered to the point that you cannot go off, run off by yourself..

KEVIN: There's no rambo's here. You've got to fight as a team or you will get swarmed and killed.

MIKE: That's right, because there are a lot of games, like even when they talk about cooperative games, it's more of you're in the same server playing together. But we really wanted to push on things where you HAVE to work together and cooperate in order to survive.

KEVIN: And so there's 4 human players controlling the Survivors here that are trying to get from A to B and then there's also 4 human players controlling the infested zombies, correct?

MIKE: Correct. Right. You can play either on the Survivor side or the Infected side. The Survivor side.. it's very accessible, jump in, grab a gun, stay with your buddies, kill the zombies. On the Infected side there are different.. there's the giant swarm of common Infected, right, there's also the specialized bosses that..

KEVIN: And that's what you control.

MIKE: Yes, you control them. They each have a unique mutation, like, for instance: It's so important for the Survivors to stay together and watch each other's back, because they're completely surrounded, right..

KEVIN: I can't believe what I'm seeing! Yes, I'm sorry, go ahead.. continue.

MIKE: So you can see that you have to trust each other to watch your back and whatnot. You can't possibly do it all yourself. The Smoker has a fifty yard long prehensile tongue, so he's going to reach out, grab a guy completely across the street or into someplace bad, so if you've got a team that's really working tight, that Smoker can ruin your day.

KEVIN: Wow, that's.. now, ok.. so we've got all that going on, but how do you keep the pacing up because so far this seems incredibly intense.. there's tons of zombies flying around the corner. Is it just a constant barrage or is there a constant onslaught, or is it done with triggers.. how does it work?

MIKE: Right. Well, early on we did actually experiment with triggers but what we decided to do was the full enchilada which we call the AI Director, and that's taking our AI systems to the next level. Beyond, say what we did with the Counter-Strike bots. So we have an AI Director who is watching the individual Survivors, how they're reacting. As their stress level goes up, it keeps managing the experience so you don't get too stressed and you don't get too bored..

KEVIN: It gives you a moment to relax and then the moment the game has figured out that you're not going to die from a massive coronary it floods you with zombies to make sure you keel over and die.

MIKE: Right, the thing with drama is that you want to have peaks and valleys, right, and it insures that you get excited, peaks and valleys.

KEVIN: Um, uh, um.. I can't.. this is my first real time seeing it in action like this and I just, I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Coming out for PC and for XBox 360?

MIKE: That's right. On both retail and Steam.

KEVIN: Very cool. Now, how can I trust your company to develop using.. you said this was on Steam, it's running on Source engine, Valve technology.. is there a bit of a track record there?

MIKE: Yeah, we've been working with Valve now, we're on our fifth year, and Valve has been really awesome, very, uh.. oh, sorry.. by the way, what we're seeing right now.. we're seeing through the guy's eyes. He's on the ground, incapacitated.

KEVIN: Oh, but he can still fire while waiting for his buddies to come and bring him back?

MIKE: Right, unless his buddies come and pick him up he's done.

KEVIN: Right, and so far it looks like he's pretty much done.

MIKE: Yeah, he's pretty much done. So anyway..

KEVIN: Which zombie is this? I'm sorry, we're running out of time but I've gotta and that guy's just going to wreak havoc..

MIKE: Yes. That is controlled by a player right now as a matter of fact.

KEVIN: GET HIM HE'S ON THE GROUND! [Mike laughs] WHAT'S THE MATTER? THE INTERVIEW'S OVER, KILL THAT GUY! I love it. I know your track record is pristine and the game looks incredibly fun and that's the most important part and I thank you for coming on the show.

MIKE: Alright, thanks a lot man.

KEVIN: Really appreciate it. Can I get some time with it after?

MIKE: You bet.

KEVIN: Thank you. [to camera] We have more on Left 4 Dead over the next few days. Don't forget though, if this is the game that has your heart racing, and I bet it is, be sure to head over to the Buzz meter at g4tv.com/e3 and let us know. We're going to check in at the end of the show.

TIMELINE - G4TV VERSION

1:18 Boomer vomits at a Survivor just after the Survivors battle off a massive swarm.
1:51 Hunter pounces Zoey.
2:14 The Smoker grabs Zoey but is quickly killed by her teammate.
3:15 The screen goes red with each hit from an Infected (the player isn't doing so well here).
3:37 Enter the Tank.
3:40 Tank smashes a car.
3:43 Tank hits car again, this time knocking Bill down.
3:45 Tank smashes at the ground.
4:24 Tank begins to fall.